Sandwich High windowsills funding request yanked from May warrant

Thursday

Apr 18, 2013 at 12:01 AMApr 18, 2013 at 6:10 PM

Selectmen, along with the finance and school committees, all agreed Wednesday night to yank Article 5 from the draft May 6 Annual Town Meeting Warrant that called for the $500,000 funding of windowsills replacement at Sandwich High School.

Selectmen, along with the finance and school committees, all agreed Wednesday night to yank Article 5 from the draft May 6 Annual Town Meeting Warrant that called for the $500,000 funding of windowsills replacement at Sandwich High School.

Selectmen had supported taking $500,000 from the stabilization fund. The finance board voted to cut the school district budget by that amount. An impasse emerged. And the school committee feared the impact on next year’s spending plan might compromise STEM Academy progress for Sandwich High School.

Then Superintendent C. Richard Canfield’s office and Town Manager Bud Dunham received official word from the Massachusetts School Building Authority that it would be “premature” for the town to fund the windowsills project until it is officially reviewed by the agency; something that could take up to 18 months.

School Committee Chairman Andrea Killion said “the whole idea” was to secure project funding and have the work performed over the upcoming summer vacation. Now, should the town wait for work on SBAB reimbursement, the project could impact the projected STEM opening in September 2014.

For now, however, voters will not be asked to decide the funding issue next month. The next question, Dunham said, is: should the town wait for an SBAB project reimbursement message or should Sandwich pay for the project outright?

Should the town proceed, there would three options: tap the stabilization fund for the needed $500,000, dip into the free cash account or present a capital exclusion question to voters.

Selectman Frank Pannorfi said he prefers to wait for the SBAB. In that way, he said, the town would have a better idea of what the project entails, what it would cost and what time of year it might be undertaken.

The three committees agreed that failing and falling windowsills present a safety problem that cannot be ignored. They all agreed the sills need replacing. But they do not want to interfere with SBAB project review.

Michael McGurl, project manager for Keville Enterprises, a contractor working for the SBAB, informed the school district April 17 that it is premature for a town to authorize funding for a project that has yet to be “invited into eligibility or capital pipeline of the MSBA.”